Weitnauer
We have resisted the “megafirm” trend. Since its formation in 1995, our firm has grown continuously from within. We maintain an open mind and open style with our partners, colleagues and clients. We choose to focus on solutions and success, not on exaggerating problems. We see ourselves as custom service providers and personal counsel, not an anonymous service unit that treats its clients as numbers.We believe in an interdisciplinary approach that combines legal and tax advice with audit services, allowing us to offer comprehensive advice from a single source.Our independency helps us to remain flexible while acting and thinking in an entrepreneurial spirit, as reflected in our client-friendly fee policy. We strive to grow along with our client on a foundation of joint success; to this end, we are available as fair partners to offer support in difficult times. Key values defining the quality of our work are dynamism, entrepreneurial thinking, team spirit, personal commitment, a close and direct relationship with the client and short turnaround times. FinancingWEITNAUER initially made its name as a venture capital firm, but has grown to include comprehensive consulting services in all matters of commercial financing for both investors and investment targets. We have extended our focus from young technology start-ups to the medium-sized business segment. The main areas of focus include funds structuring, structuring of shareholder agreements, mezzanine financing (silent partnerships, profit participations etc.), project financing, prospectus drafting and review, IPO.TransactionsCompany acquisitions, real property transactions, estate planning and succession rights are an important part of our work. Here, the cooperation among attorneys and tax advisors/CPAs provides us with an essential advantage. We can offer comprehensive advice (“one stop shopping”), from an initial “quick scan” through financial, tax and legal due diligence to fiscal and legal structuring and evaluation (indicative evaluation, apportionment of prices, evaluation of real property, trademarks and licenses). We are also experienced in specifically structured transactions such as spin-offs or management buy outs. Finally, we provide advice on estate planning, particularly with a view to business successions, including the full range of legal and financial issues. LitigationWe represent our clients not only in court, but also in extra-juridical proceedings (arbitration). Key areas include the law on unfair competition practices and the protection of intellectual property rights. Our firm’s attorneys possess specialized knowledge regarding international litigation, especially in disputes involving Germany and the United States (issues of jurisdiction and service of process). Restructuring and Counseling in Financial Difficulties/Labour LawWe are here to help in difficult times. We assist management in cases of potential insolvency with solvency audits while explaining obligations and personal risks. We provide legal and tax counseling to shareholders for company restructuring, e. g. through outsourcing or similar measures. Since restructuring typically also impacts employees, we have experience in advising the company as well as the workers; council on collective labour laws, especially in settlement negotiations and social compensation plans. We also assist our clients with issues of individual employment law (such as protection against unfair termination). "All-in-one" CounselingOur firm combines the benefits of a small unit with the quality of an excellent and comprehensively oriented group that understands the meaning of the word “team”. As such, we can successfully handle full-scale projects without unnecessary delays; we work directly with the client. We solve complex questions and problems from one place, thanks to our partnership of attorneys, tax advisors/CPA and an insolvency trustee.Apart from German, our daily working languages are English and French. We have a strong Anglo-American focus: A number of our attorneys hold American law degrees and bar admissions, and we count among our ranks Prof. Peter Hay, a leading authority on German-American legal relations. We have become a "third party-in-house-counsel" for some of our clients, handling all their day-to-day corporate legal issues. We handle company-internal issues (such as the preparation of shareholders’ meetings, including for publicly traded corporations), general business law, and even offer expertise in the specialized markets of young technology start-ups, such as media, Internet or capital market law. In addition we provide standard public accounting, such as annual balance sheet preparation, conversion to IFRS, etc. WEITNAUER seeks to promulgate its practical experiences through numerous publications. Our “Venture Capital Manual” has become a standard reference and firm trademark. Likewise, the “Management Buy-Out Manual” and the “Collection of Contract Forms for e-commerce are important contributions to theory and practice. The same can be said for our contribution to the “Commentary on Accounting”.WEITNAUER cooperates with selected partners to publish the annual BioPlus-Market Study featuring miscellaneous articles on biotechnology.At least twice a year, our firm organizes presentations on key topical issues for our clients and our network of contacts. Guest lectures in Berlin, Bielefeld and Dresden complement our academic alliance.

practice areas

Banking LawFinanceVenture Capital

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